Hot topics in August

The most fabulous airports in the world

TEXT ANDREAS SPAETH

A water slide at the gate, a brewery in the terminal, a beach by the runway: Modern airports offer passengers the works

Airports always used to be pretty inhospitable. These days, prestige is key, and so international star architects are commissioned to design spectacular buildings that are ­places of interest in their own right. And that’s not all: Airports are also rapidly morphing into adventure parks. Beneath the ­bold curves of their transparent roofs, they offer passengers an array of attractions wholly unconnected to air travel. Visitors can seek out the spa for a relaxing massage, stroll through the rainforest, surf artificial waves, enjoy locally brewed beer, chill on panoramic terraces, wander through museums – knowing that their children are having fun whooshing down a four-level giant water slide or flitting around on roller skates. Asian airports have been particularly successful on this score: In almost every survey, Changi Airport in Singapore and Incheon Airport in Seoul come out near the top.

But other cities are catching up fast. One of the boldest projects is currently underway in Mexico City, where a new airport – scheduled to replace the existing one, Benito Juarez Airport (which is far too small for a city of 20 million) in 2020 – aims to set the trend for tomorrow’s airports. Not one, but two highly respected architects and their teams have been entrusted with the job: Norman Foster from Great Britain, whose work includes the dome of the Reichstag, Germany’s parliament building in Berlin, as well as Hong Kong Airport. The other big name is Mexican architect Fernando Romero, son-in-law of billionaire Carlos Slim, who built the Convention Center in Los Cabos and the Soumaya Museum in Mexico City. An X-shaped terminal will be the eye-catcher here.

“Mexico is taking global airport construction to a new level,” says architect Antoinette Nassopoulos-Erickson, who has been working on Norman Foster airport projects for 20 years. “Airports of the future have to offer passengers a fantastic experience and at the same time give them a sense of the actual country or city they are in.” Passengers want to personalize their experience at the airport terminal, “that’s why it’s important to offer a variety of facilities that suit individual moods.” And there’s already plenty to choose from at airline hubs around the world: The yoga rooms in Frankfurt, the golf course at Incheon, near Seoul, and the 4D movie theater with wind and olfactory effects in Hong Kong are only the beginning.

For yoga fans

For thrills

Terminal 3 at Changi Airport in Singapore has the world’s biggest airport water slide. It hurtles you into the depths at six meters per second. Make a purchase at an airport shop to get a free coupon for the slide.

For skaters

Incheon International Airport, situated west of the South Korean capital, Seoul, has an inline skating rink with space for up to 150 people. The rink is located in the Transportation Center right beside the terminal and rents out skates.

For speed freaks

At Salzburg Airport in Austria, passengers can admire the Red Bull collection of airplanes, race cars and racing motor­cycles at the Hangar 7 glass museum. The exhibition also includes the helium balloon capsule Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner used to make his record-breaking jump from the stratosphere in 2012.

For fans of the jumbo jet

For underwater fans

At Vancouver Airport in Canada, you can see more than 5000 different sea dwellers – including wolf eels, various types of jellyfish and brightly colored sea anemones – in two aquariums with a combined volume of around 116 cubic meters.